1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a video player and a video playback method capable of playing back video contents in a plurality of playback modes using frame rate information of video contents.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known the contents which include motion pictures shot at a high frame rate exceeding 1000 fps and can be played back at a slow speed in a smooth motion. There are both a case where entire contents are composed of videos shot at a high frame rate and a case where contents include videos of a particular scene (which captured an instant of a prompt motion) shot at the high frame rate, only in a part of the contents.
The contents within which the frame rate changes as in the latter case are termed multi-frame rate contents. In the multi-frame rate contents, there is a case where the playback frame rate is adjusted by decimating out frames in a high frame-rate portion and a case where a high frame-rate portion is automatically played in slow motion. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-324941 discusses an image process apparatus that when a high frame rate portion, which has an effect in improving an image quality, is extracted in multi-frame rate contents, the image process apparatus causes a user to recognize the high frame rate portion by an information display unit or an indicator.
When the user views the multi-frame rate contents, the user can select either a normal playback mode or a slow playback mode. In the normal playback mode, a high frame-rate portion is played back by adjusting a playback time by decimating out frames in the high frame-rate portion. In the slow playback mode, the high frame-rate portion is played back without decimating out frames. Accordingly, in the multi-frame rate contents, since a playback time is different depending on whether a normal playback is employed or a slow playback is employed, a viewing state of the user is affected depending on which of them is selected. For example, when contents which are finished in 1 hour in the normal playback are played back in the slow playback, it may take 1 hour and 15 minutes.
When the user selects between the normal playback and the slow playback, since viewing time of the respective playback modes is not previously presented, the user cannot smoothly select a playback mode
Further, except a case where a playback mode is selected throughout entire multi-frame rate contents, there is also a case where when a scene of a high frame rate appears in a mid-portion of playback, the user can select a playback mode. Also in this case, since necessary playback time is not presented when the scene is played back at a slow speed, the user cannot smoothly select the playback mode.